Shuk ~ Episode 19 Review

Let me begin by applauding Yasir Nawaz for his on point direction – I can’t remember the last time I looked forward to an episode with this much anticipation and expectation. As the story played out I got annoyed, angry, frustrated, aggravated – you name it and I felt it – but majaal hai ke remote ko zara bhi takleef di ho … I was glued!

If a drama is meant to entertain then Shuk wins a gold medal. If the purpose is to make us look beyond the obvious and push us out of our comfort zone then Shuk has achieved its goal. If it is meant to make us re-evaluate what we perceive in absolute terms then Shuk has passed the acid test. If the point is to get us to to reflect on contemporary society and social issues then Shuk has succeeded in generating a heated debate: Is falling in and out of love that easy? What does marriage mean in this day and age? What does fidelity mean? How important is it to trust your spouse? Can a marriage survive without trust? How much strain can a marriage bear? How much effort is a marriage worth? When is a spouse justified in walking away from a marriage? How accepting are we of divorces? Is thesautanalways in the wrong and the first wife always asati savitri? How comfortable are we as a society with the notion of a divorced woman living on her own?

For the past few weeks Shuk has had us all in a tizzy – whether we agree with Samira’s twists and turns, whether we find this scenario plausible or not, whether it mirrors our socio-cultural realities or not, aisa hota hai ke nahin aur agar hota hai to hamarey haan nahin hota – all issues have been rendered immaterial. Such is the grip that Yasir has on Samira’s story that all of us are on the edge, waiting for a resolution. How are these three going to extricate themselves from this mess, where nobody is right but then nobody is wrong either. All have their own sets of justifications for their actions. For me this is no longer about Sham and Sania and Sehrish and who will divorce whom when …. this to me now more a story of three very fallible people who find themselves in an impossible situation. No matter which way they go somebody or the other is bound to get hurt. Simply put Shuk is an intimate study of ordinary everyday people, nary a hero or villain among them.

Echoing my earlier sentiments I don’t buy the story in and of itself. There are way too many loopholes in the overall logic. That said, what I am really appreciating here is the idea of Shuk as an analysis of human behavior. What we have here are inherently good people, nobody out to cause harm or make others’ lives difficult. But somehow despite the best of their intentions they end up in an utter mess, which is as much of their own making as it is not. Both ‘Sham and Ali have their mashriqi mardana egos. Among the women, Sehrish has her insecurities vis-à-vis her childlessness and Sania has her share of issues given the past circumstances of her life. Add in to the mix a bunch of trouble makers and you have the perfect recipe for making mountains out of molehills. We have seen this kind of a story play out in other serials too, but what makes this one stand out is how Samira has succeeded in showing us how different the same story looks from every character’s perspective. Even as we want to shake Sania or are aggravated with Sehrish or detest ‘Sham, we cannot but help empathize with them at the same time.

It is to Samira’s credit that as a writer she has not imposed her own judgement on any of the characters, allowing them instead to chart their own paths, mistakes and all. The implausible scenario has been delicately juxtaposed against the very relatable frailties of these characters.And here Yasir has done absolute justice to this very nuanced script. The tension has been pitch perfect as the inner pendulum of these characters swings from one end to another. As this episode progressed it was really hard to not feel for Sehrish, clutching desperately as she was at straws to save her flailing marriage, but earlier I wanted nothing more to put one of Rumi’s famous band aids across her mouth just to get her to zip it – the lady just wouldn’t stop with her stories of lasagnas and crepes and frittatas! Needless to say Aisha stole the show today. Not to be left behind Adeel rocked as ‘Sham and Sanam was great as Sania. And here, I must commend the technical crew for their editing and Naeem Mustafa, the DOP, for his fabulous camerawork. Great job team Shuk!

excellent review…shukk has disappointed me beyond limits…how can a husband who loved his wife so v much forget her so easily n start despising her….for another woman whom once he disliked….sehrish suspected him coz she loved him n he abondoned her when she had lost the baby…making her allthemore insecure…never for once did he take her into confidence n massured abt his lov foe her…its always sehrish who returns to him…he has never made an effort to put the things right…for him the only solution was to shout at his wife….though sehrish made a teibly wrong move by informing sanias husband that resulted in evil consequences not only for sania but for herself too…but she did it out of inasecurity given to her by her husband,instigation by her wvil friend n due to her own depression ….now she has returned back at her hubby’s term n ha noobjection to sania n rumistaying thr…adeel is dismoissing her attempts only coz he has someone else in is mind n heart…now its not her faiult due to which he s ehaving ths way,but its his own change of heart that mke him devalue so much n he is even thinking of getting rid of her…proving himself s the most disgruntled n unfaithfull husband,even worse than ali….i dont understand even after such inslt wats keepinhg sehrish to lov him n stay with him…does she hav no selfrespect?though i want sham to realise his misrakes n accept her as she was his beloved wife…the scee whr she professed she missed her house n reclled the day he broughther here ws qte ironic…that the hose so lovingly bought for sehrishonce,the house she has owned so much might nt b hers anymore if he leaves her…sehrish is not only ilov wd him but everything related to himhis huse,his room everything]n that evokes pity for her….i wsh she has another baby soon n things wd b o.k bwn tem n ali should cme bck n take sania n rumi along…..aisha khanz performance ws far abvthe mark,shes ann icon….she was perfect as insecure,ready to accomodate,v much inlove wife….but i hate ehtasham for hating sehrish whom he once claied to lov more thn anythng else…n v audience also had fallen in lov with the amazing chemistry between the two…..my heart aches to see them falling apart…

Great review. I felt for Sehrish, but I agree that all her talk about cooking etc. like it was just normal was annoying. She realized too late that she was wrong. I don’t think a marriage works if there is no trust. I don’t want Shaam to leave Sania now that Sehrish has apologized. Eagerly waiting for next episode.

I also lament the way Sehrish is being cheated.ehtasham’s love for her which we all enjoyed so much,was a mere illusion.the strangest part is even wafted doing her so wrong he still desnt feel guilty.he has never cared for her feelings,never listened,to her,never tried to reassure politely.n now he has fogotten his 7 year old relationship with her and is more than ready to kick her out for another woman.Shukk has taught us that true love is non existent in th is world.definition for love according to Shukk is a mere illusion,an eyewash n a never changing feeling….the passion remains the same,only the beloved changes.another message put across by Shukk is that a childless woman is always insecure n can b kickedout without a second thought.

for me its only sehrish who is sincere n suffering…both sania n ehtasham r traitors…wat they ve done clearly shjows that sehrish ws not entirely wrong in her doubts….hate them bth when they present amorous displays…n sham is sucha shameless person that he has neither any guilt pangs for cheating his 7 years loving wife nor does he care the least to hurt her feeliongs by breaking the hideous secret…in my opinion the only thing sehrish is guiltly of is losing his baby…if thy had a baby,sham wd never evn had think of doing all this to his wife…

@Kiran You don’t think Sania suffered? 5 years with a horrible mother in law doing her khidmat, that is not sincere? Even Sehrish said age could never do that? On top of that you get wrongfully slandered for having an affair when you are not? Do you know how many times Sehrish humiliated her wrongfully? Forget what happened now but up till now it is Sania who has had the worse consequences How can you say only Sehrish has suffered? I do feel bad for Sehrish, but to go about wrongfully slandering people of adultery is a huge thing and without concrete proof , you can not just think it is so easy to do that and not suffer.

I agree. Sehrish has been wronged now but Sania has been fron the beginning.

Sehrish doesn’t deserve this heartbreak, yes, but I feel Sania doesn’t deserve it more. If Ehtisham and Sania break it off, this will be third time she gets hurt especially because of the same peraon, Sehrish.

I must say the car scene, phone scene and the final scene was so heartbreaking. You can feel the love the desperatation, the anxiousness, the hopelessness, the guilt, etc. Love the emotional rollercoaster!

Dead on review! You’re so right about Shukk keeping us hooked on. Mein toh hoon hi sahi….even my 8 yr old daughter last night opted to watch this instead of Disney channel. I was busy with guests but noticed her watching Shukk so intently – she wouldn’t even change the channel during the commercial break!

Superb review.and I totally agree that noboday is totallt right or wtong yet all three of them are in impossible situation.And again yes there are too many loopholes yet it has managed us to keep us glued.Aisha,Adeel,Sanam its impossible to choose who was better who wasnt.All were simply superb.The episode was all about Sham,Sehrish and Sania and each one fit to their respective ro,es perfectly.already waiting for saturday !

Nice review. Sania back to being the compromising mashriqi aurat. ‘Mai Australia ja rahi hun.’ Jana hi tha to pehle chali jati! I feel so bad for Sehrish, she is trying so hard to make up for what she did not knowing what her beloved hubby has done after she left.
As for Sham, sure men are allowed to marry more than once at the same time but they are also required to ASK their first wife before marrying another woman. Yahan to batane ki zehmat bhi nahi ki.
All in all a good episode though, the actors were awesome. Ayesha was awesome! You are right, she stole the show.

@SZ spot on review!!
Absolutely loved it! Perfect entertainment package! I was super-glued throughout this episode!
Now for an ep where the narrative didnt move forward one inch, goes to show yasir and samiras ability to keep us glued!
Throughout i was like abb bataya ke tabb.. But they never bataya-ed.. As much as it agrravated me, i was loving it!
Have to give credit to last weeks precap too.. We all thought bata dega.. Zara bura lage ga.. Sehrish going all mazloom aur willing to forgive the new shadi.. But what we got was none of that but way better lolz..
Sham and sania r doing what they ve been doing all along.. Hiding the truth & lying.. They still havent learnt! Lol
Sehrish on the other hand is trying very hard to not let her shukk surface. I love how she still feels the pang and her struggle to not let it show. How shes trying to be the shutr murgh..but also wants to know..

I just loved the emotional roller coaster we r on, along with the characters…
Now to watch this one has to accept jo ho gya wo ho gya.. Forget the absurd twists, but enjoy the emotinal drama within each of the characters!

Excellent review!! Exactly how Im feeling watch all this play out. They have kept us glued with amazing performances and great direction. Feeling very bad for all the characters, and loved your part how the same story is seen differently by each character. Many mistakes have been made, the pain and emotional pendulum is definitely in full force now! Can’t wait to see what happens next!

Your review can actually make one to love or hate the episode… Which means brilliant review :)Totally agree with you on all parts.

Rather then talking about sehr should have done this, Sham was wrong in doing that or Sania shouldnt have done that, I would like to take a back seat, enjoy this gripping drama with simply fabulous performances and excellent direction.. No matter how much i feel annoyed at Sehrish.. But Ayesha khan very easily made me feel about sehr.., the scenes where sham talked about sania, or even where sania was present.. Sehrish was so in control and trying her utmost best to mend the broken.. The way she was trying to ignore the awkwardness was so amazing to see.. When Roomi called sham as baba, her expressions and how she took that positive way, didnt let her inner turmoil affect her.. Specially the scene with Sania was bang on.. Both Sania and Sham heard that and reacted much sensibly.. Their last scene was one of the best…

The car scene i actually saw two times..maaann they are soo good.. Absolutely loved how sania’s eyes twinkled when he admired her and expressed his love.. Showed how much this thing was lacking in her previous life.. She wants to live with this man but on other side thinking realistically that sehrish has more right.. She is stuck between mind and heart and this what is keeping me glued to wait for next saturday to know what will be the end result 🙂

I think Sania will leave for Australia and leave Roomi behind with Sehrish and Ali. Ali being the chauvunist that he is, I think still loves Sehrish because in his hearts of heart, he knows she hasn’t really done anything wrong and does not deserve to be abandoned. I think one of the ways to reconcile the story is as I have suggested: Sania leaves for Australia, Ali and Sehrish resolve their issues andnget a child they already both love.

@Naureen ROFL @ sania will leave roomi and go to australia.. Why would she do that? I dont think she loves sham that much!!! Lol… Unless if she’s after the medal for being the most sacrificing, mazloom wife or the most stupid woman on the planet.. We had neelum in numm but we knew she had issues lol

@RJ aray haan! Woh ali wali baat tou mein bhool hi gai thi! Good thinking!… That will be another absurd twist but Buhut mumkin hai!!!.. Bulke come to think of it buhut ziada mukin hai!.. What if hes regretting divorcing her, he might wanna take sania back too. Seeing her divorce was a quiet affair she might consider going back to him (halala tou jo jae ga if she leaves sham) That will be totally stupid but shukk has given us some stupid turns time and time again! Lol..i think im going bonkers with my wild imagination…Sorry
Sorry abt the earlier msg.. Pata nahin wo kia hua tha!

Loved the review!!
Ahh the aggravation this episode brought, just drove me nuts. Sehrish is such a chatterbox. She walks in the house and cannot seem to shut up! As you rightly said in your review, Rumi needs to put a band aid on that!

Why is Sania being such a coward. She is resorting to petty lies, I get it not to hurt Sehrish but she’s also jeopardizing her happiness in doing all this, and it’s just very annoying. Telling Rumi to play a long in their little “secret”. I always count on him for spilling the beans but this time around Sania had him on a very strong leash and wouldn’t let go. =\

Re band aid: i agree it was frustrating but it goes to show how desperate she is. Shed rather talk abt crepes than to face the truth.. The real ostritch.. Burrying the real issue under crepes and aunty gossips and all sorts lol